I don't have a basis for evaluating that calculation. I'll point out that their methodology seems to rely on taking various estimates of per-day costs then multiplying things out. It also relies on per-campaign costs from prior conflicts and turns them into per-day costs. I don't think you can do that in an intermittent war that has no boots on the ground.

Regardless, the federal government's job is, in fact, to bomb hostile countries that threaten shipping lanes. That's the federal government's actual job, not social welfare. I agree that we mistakenly precipitated the situation that now threatens the shipping lanes, but we are where we are. And it's not like that dry firewood wasn't already there.

I also don't understand the emotionalism of "fellow citizens." "American" is a label for a group of consumers living within a defined border, who want to get their oil and foreign goods shipped to that location. It's even more clear today that keeping shipping lanes open is the federal government's core responsibility than it was in 1789.